The Met Mess Dinner: All is not Swell
On 19 September, the Met Mess met at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London for an entertaining evening among friends. The pre-event invitation hinted at a tale of personal endeavor, endurance and, ultimately, survival in the face of overwhelming odds, under the cryptic heading ‘All is Not Swell.’ The invitation read ‘Could you handle living on a tiny boat, in the middle of the Atlantic, seasick and sleep deprived, rowing two hours on, two hours off, every day for 37 days.’ Not really, no. And that was the plain-sailing version of events, so to speak.
Enter Max Thorpe, our guest speaker, who lived this unimaginable ordeal. Max recounted his 3,000-mile crossing of the Atlantic—a journey that saw him survive monstrous waves, onboard fires, and a near-death encounter with an oil tanker. The fact Max was actually at the dinner to tell us this was a miracle.
The Director of Metropolitan Events, Very Worshipful John Parry, took to the stage to welcome the members present and to introduce the guest of honour, the Right Worshipful Metropolitan Deputy Grand Master, Chris Hayward PJGW. Chris thanked the Brethren for all their tireless work in helping London Freemasonry and to encourage our mission to continue to grow membership over the coming year; before introducing the event’s guest speaker, “a truly inspirational young man” to regale us with his tales of adventure in what was “another spectacular Met Events Team production!”
Max took to the stage and thanked John and Chris before also thanking Gary Beckwith who had invited him to speak at the event. Max explained how his adventure began when he decided to seek out a personal challenge which would test his mettle and give him something monumental to aim for. Max said that as a sporty young child he had always had a competitive edge in his formative years, but had lost this sense of competitiveness when he studied at university. To relight that flame within, Max decided to set himself an as yet unknown but ambitious goal. Turning to Google for inspiration he searched for a ‘big challenge’. Google suggested rowing across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Row-Boat Challenge. (This is why we should be wary of AI generated suggestions!)
He then teased us with a short video clip which threw us straight into the middle of the Atlantic and the climax of this most perilous event of ocean sport, promising to return to this scene later in his speech. The challenge was a journey of anything between 40 to 90 days on a seven-metre rowboat, crossing the Atlantic from the Canaries to Antigua, with the prospect of huge storms, sea sickness and sleep deprivation. Max’s first mission was to find a team mate to whom this would also likely appeal. Originally joined by his friend, Dave Spelman, the partnership was short-lived when Dave was offered a pro-rugby contract and had to pull out; which paved the way for Chris Williams to join Max in this trial of fortitude and perseverance.
Bringing up a slide which read ‘Things that never happen before, happen all the time’, there was a sense of foreboding amongst the room that this was going to be a tale of horrific bad luck. Coupled with his next quote, one from former US President F. D. Roosevelt, namely ‘a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor’, we were now equally aware this story was not going to involve a smooth sea…
To give us some idea of the incredible situation, Max explained how he and Chris had to row alternately two hours on, two hours off, twenty-four hours a day; how, despite consuming a daily 7,000 calorie diet, both men continued to lose weight; all whilst navigating the worst weather conditions the race had seen in over 10 years. On the ninth day, one thousand kilometers into the race and leading the field of competitors with a time just ahead of the world record, disaster struck. A rogue wave picked the boat up in the air and threw it upside down in the water. Often referred to as a seaman’s myth, the 17.5 metre ‘rogue’ wave was very real and three-and-a-half times bigger than any wave in the area. For safety reasons, Max and Chris were tethered to the boat at all times; and the boat was designed to self-right in the event of capsizing (so long as the cabin doors were shut). Both still attached to the boat and back upright in the water, Max noticed the emergency beacon was floating away from them. It was both a major safety issue and potentially the end of the race, as having it was a condition of the race rules; Max recalls seeing the race disappear until, to his relief, miraculously the beacon floated back towards them and he was able to fish it from the water and reattach it to the boat.
Max then recalls opening the cabin doors to check for damage, only to be hit in the face with a plume of black smoke. An onboard fire arising from the destructive wave had decimated the cabin and destroyed their communications equipment. Putting out the fire with an extinguisher, the only cabin was still full of toxic fumes from the batteries. With the weather conditions continuing to worsen and large swells and huge 40-50ft waves breaking around them, it was impossible to seek refuge in the toxic air of the cabin. Both men were forced to endure their fate in the elements over the course of a day in treacherous weather. They were eventually able to retrieve their satellite-phone with a mere one bar of battery life, from which they called the race organisers for a rescue.
With worsening weather, they barricaded themselves in the boat’s storage locker, a space no bigger than ‘a large suitcase’. Max describes how they could hear the waves whistling towards them as the boat was rocked to and fro. During a break in the waves, they would emerge from the storage locker to project a laser light 360 degrees around the boat in the hope that they might be seen. This they continued to do for over 8 hours. Eventually spotting a light at the horizon, the two men hoped to soon be rescued from their perilous situation; only for things to get a whole lot worse. That light was emanating from a 110-ton oil tanker, charging directly at them.
If you’ve recently thought you’ve had a bad day, just think about staring at an oil tanker heading full steam at you whilst being thrown around in a storm in your burnt-out canoe! I think Max wins on the ‘I had a bad day’ competition. It turns out that the tanker was the only ship in the area capable of mounting a rescue; and had diverted course to aid the stricken pair, though with their arrival coming in the pitch black night, with constantly crashing large waves and the oil tanker’s own currents created in its wake, the rowboat was at risk of being completely crushed by the tanker in its lethal currents.
Max says it was almost impossible to connect with the tanker. Expecting the tanker to come to a genteel halt beside their boat with the proverbial red carpet of their salvation, the reality was that they were now fighting their rescue boat in an effort to stay alive. With their boat being dragged under its wake, Chris managed to grab the rope ladder from the tanker; but with the crashing waves tossing the boat whilst the tanker pitched around, he took the extreme risk of unharnessing himself from the boat.
Max then threw himself at the bottom rung of the ladder and hung on for dear life. Chris fell but managed to grab the rope with his teeth, which were then completely wrenched from his mouth as the tanker jolted in the waves – yes, his teeth were ripped out of his mouth. OK: on reflection, Chris now wins the ‘I had a bad day’ competition. This was his last vision before Max fell from the ladder down into the pitch black Atlantic, watching the ship power away at 6 knots. His survival instincts kicking in, he swum for his life in the direction of the tanker, despite knowing his situation was completely hopeless. It was then that he noticed a black snaking reflection in the water and instantly knew it was a rope. It had been thrown overboard as a final lifeline by a farsighted member of the tanker’s crew. Max grabbed the last six inches and held on for dear life. Eventually, a member of the crew spotted Max in the water and pulled him in.
Max recalled how he and Chris, grateful for their salvation, asked the crew when they would get back to their families and if they could be taken back to the Canaries. “No, we’re going to Brazil and you’re coming with us!” came the response. Fair enough.
As Max says, ‘It’s not what happens to you but how you react that defines you.’ To this end, Max reacted by once again teaming up with his original partner, Dave the pro-rugby player, and threw himself into the Talisker Atlantic Row for a second time. And on that eventless occasion, they completed it and won!
To a man, the room stood to applaud Max and his incredible journey. A truly remarkable story of adventure and adversity delivered by a truly extraordinary young man.
Want to join this extraordinary community?
The Metropolitan Officers Mess, annual membership £10, is open to all Metropolitan Officers, present and former, as well as MAGI and Visiting Officers. The amazing list of guest speakers has ranged from Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Rose (United Nations Peacekeeping), Sir Christopher Meyer (former UK Ambassador to the USA), Michael Portillo – former MP, Cabinet Minister and broadcaster, to the late Jimmy Greaves, former England International footballer.
If you would like further information or to check your eligibility, contact: davidchughes2@gmail.com or martin.vidler@ntlworld.com
Don’t miss the next lunch of inspiration and camaraderie on 17th March 2025!
This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 56 Winter 2024 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.
Read more articles in the Arena Issue 56 here.